Judicial Review to challenge Government over prisoners right to vote

Judicial Review to challenge Government over prisoners right to vote

By: Eric McGraw

A legal challenge to the Government’s refusal to give prisoners the vote is being planned, Inside Time has learnt.

The European Court of Human Rights published its judgement in HIRST v UK five years ago in March 2004. The Court decided that the UK Government’s blanket ban on convicted prisoners having the vote in General and local Elections breached their human rights. The Government lodged an appeal with the Grand Chamber and lost.

They then spent 2 years on a ‘consultation’ exercise but have refused to publish the results. It has now decided to run a second consultation but declines to give a date as to when the consultation will begin or end.

To add to the Government’s troubles, Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has gone so far as saying:

“The Government must give prisoners the right to vote or the next General Election will be illegal under European Law, ministers have been warned”.

Inside Time understands that a Judicial Review is planned in an effort to shove them along’.

The initial focus of the legal challenge will be to get the High Court to rule that the current voting law is out of step with the Human Rights Act, and to force the Government to enact legislation before the next General Election which has to be held on or before 3rd June 2010.

If the Government fails to act, an injunction will be issued to prevent the General Election taking place and that alone will create a major constitutional crisis.

Gerard McGrath, in this issue of Inside Time, acknowledges that giving prisoners the vote is not a vote winner for any major political party, but argues that disaffection and alienation can themselves be a cause of crime. His proposal is for the Ministry of Justice to roll-out a citizenship course, which imparts an understanding of the relationship of the rights, duties and responsibilities of all citizens. He adds that accepting personal responsibility and duty is a core offending behaviour issue for many prisoners.